Erodium malacoides
Encyclopedia
Erodium malacoides is a species of flowering plant in the geranium family
known by the common names Mediterranean stork's bill and oval heron's bill. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an introduced species
. The young plant grows a number of ruffled green leaves radially outward flat against the ground from a knobby central stem. The stem may eventually reach half a meter in height with more leaves on long, hairy petioles
. It bears small flowers with fuzzy, soft spine-tipped sepal
s and five lavender to magenta petals. The filaree
fruit is green with a glandular body about half a centimeter long and a long, pointed style two to three centimeters in length.
Geraniaceae
Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. It includes both the genus Geranium and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.There are...
known by the common names Mediterranean stork's bill and oval heron's bill. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
. The young plant grows a number of ruffled green leaves radially outward flat against the ground from a knobby central stem. The stem may eventually reach half a meter in height with more leaves on long, hairy petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. It bears small flowers with fuzzy, soft spine-tipped sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and five lavender to magenta petals. The filaree
Erodium
Erodium is a genus of the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 60 species, for the most part originating in the Mediterranean or Western Asian regions...
fruit is green with a glandular body about half a centimeter long and a long, pointed style two to three centimeters in length.